Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway! Pendomus by Carissa Andrews

Thank you for visiting my stop on the Pendomus blog tour hosted by XpressoBookTours
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Buy It Now: Amazon
Author: Carissa Andrews
Series: Pendomus Chronicles #1
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Publication Date: October 10, 2013


Humanity has colonized on the tidally locked planet Pendomus.

Residing between extreme heat and frigid cold is the complex known as the Helix. Within lies a highly sophisticated society functioning solely on humans fulfilling their life’s purpose as determined by their natural aptitudes and daily brain scans.

Seventeen-year-old Runa Cophem has found her calling studying the ancient trees nearby and anxiously awaits a professional placement which will allow her to continue her work.

Runa’s life takes an unforeseen turn when she’s brutally attacked and left for dead in those woods. Rescued by a stranger with blue hair, she’s immersed into a surprising way humanity has survived without the Helix. Fueled by a yearning to understand and an attraction she didn’t even know was possible, Runa tries to make a new life for herself. Yet, there’s much she doesn’t know about herself, about the planet, and the forces controlling her from afar.

What she needs are some answers.
Review
Pendomus is a book that can best be described as bizarre. This is a multi-genre book if ever I read one and yet somehow this works to create a masterpiece of sorts. Told from differing points of view the story follows Runa and Trae on this journey across Pendomus trying to uncover a plot that might bring salvation or destruction to them all.

One of things I really enjoyed about this book was the incredibly world building. The Authors imagination clearly knows no bounds. I could picture every structure, every rocky outcropping and snow flaked tundra perfectly. The details are packed into this story and yet I never felt overwhelmed by them. 

Another thing I liked was the technology. It felt fresh and unique to this story. The way the system of Pendomus runs might be a technological achievement of sorts but I just found it terrifying. The rulers of Pendomus control every little facet of life. The humans don't even sleep anymore they just sit in a chair get zapped by some machine and like good little drones get right back to work. Nor do they utilize speech. Why bother when you can just communicate telepathically.

Now while both those things really worked for me Pendomus is not without faults.

First off, because the story constantly swaps back and forth between Runa and Trae's point of view I never really felt like I had the chance become as intimately connected to either character as I would of liked.

Secondly, the pacing is all over the place. This book read like a roller coaster. When it was up it was terrifying and wondrous but when it dropped down cruising at an even speed I found myself bored and skimming through the scenes.

Lastly, I felt the book took way to long to reveal information about the plot. We get little bits and pieces as the story progresses but it's not until we reach well over the halfway mark before we see any real evidence of what is going on. I think this story really would of benefited from a prequel instead of trying to cram in all this history of the colony and the world with that of Runa and Trae's relationship with each other and that of the colony. So much world building (which again I do love) left little room for character and story development.

Final Thoughts
While I highly enjoyed Pendomus I did find myself struggling at times to stick with the story. If you love films like Avatar or the Matrix or books like Feed, Divergent or Starters then I'd definitely suggest picking this one up and giving it a go. I look forward to reading the next book in this series and seeing where Runa's story heads now that she's equipped with new knowledge about Pendomus and herself. With that being said, I'll be rating Pendomus by Carissa Andrews ★★★★.

 *Copy reviewed provided by Author. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in an which way  for providing them.

Author Bio & Follow Links 
Born and raised in central MN, Carissa Andrews has always loved books. She started her career at 15 in a bookstore, just to be able to afford her book fetish. By 19, she worked for a magazine publisher. At 22, she was working for printers to learn their trade. At 27, she went back to school for graphic design, and became an award winning designer. Little did she know all of her experiences would lead her to becoming a self-publishing power house.

At 31, a magical world on a planet far away, invaded her mind.

At 34, she’s learned what she needs to make her work successful.

Follow Carrisa: Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook


***Giveaway***
Prizes:
--Perfumes and aquamarine stones (related to the book) - US/CAN only
--3 Amazon gift cards (2 x 10$ and 1 x 25$) - INTL
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Comments

  1. Glad you liked it, Kristin. I love it when a world takes on technology advancements since I think a lot of the times it's simply realistic you know. It sounds very unique, too! Great review! :)

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    Replies
    1. They were really neat and some I hadn't really seen done before in book form so that's always a nice surprise.

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  2. Thanks for your take on Pendomus, Kristin! I appreciate you being a part of the blog tour and letting everyone know your take on the story. Pendomus originally clocked in at over 100,000 words and I ended up parsing it back in my final edits. Your idea of having a prequel is a great idea, though. You never know... with all that's been cut out, it could still happen! :D Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a good story but I do think a prequel could've helped streamline it a bit more. Thanks for letting me be a part of your tour :)

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